Thursday, May 31, 2012

As we near the end of Mad Men Season 5, a dark cloud hangs over the program....and the bottom of a dark elevator shaft lies beneath the offices of Sterling Cooper waiting patiently all season for one poor character to fall to his or her death. Which character will suffer a gruesome plunge in the shaft to mark the end of the season? (And it has to be the last shot in the last show of the season. Right?) Shades of "LA Law," where character Rosiland Shays took the one-way walk (if she lived she probably would have made partner at Dewey LeBoeuf and we knew how that turned out).

So here are exclusive odds from The Mad Men Review on which character is likely to mistakenly walk into the office elevator only to discover the bottom isn't there.

2:1Pete Campbell. Losing Pete would be a moral victory for the show. He's such a low-life he sort of deserves to be offed. The show might suffer. I guess Harry will have to kick it up a notch.

3:1Bert Cooper. Mr. Expendable. The program won't him miss a bit. The firm will be financially healthier (I'm thinking with Lane's head on my shoulders). It will provide the appropriate shock value.

4:1

Megan Draper. The character isn't working out. And her acting career is catching on fire. This would put Don back in the game and the show back on track.

5:1Roger Sterling. Let's face it. Roger's at the end of the line....both as an ad pro and a character. He's on the verge of turning into a caricature....or Dean Martin. We'll miss his quips but it will be worse to see his character flail in the coming seasons.

5:1Peggy Olson. Last week's showed ended with her entering the elevator so she's definitely in the best post position to take a fatal fall.

6:1Michael Ginsberg. This is creator Matt Weiner's chance to correct the mistake of bringing this character to the show. He's a minor character and the show wouldn't miss a beat without him.

9:1Joan Harris. You know the old rule from horror films. If you have sex, you die. Think about that Joan. But she's got a kid and that may not be so PC (unless Roger swoops in to take care of the child....but now we're talking midday soap opera).

11:1Lane Pryce. He's such an original character that it would be a crime to kill him. But he's also embezzled corporate funds so you do the math on his survival chances.

50:1Don Draper. The falling man, indeed! The show would come full circle. But there's no way they make Don Draper plunge into that shaft. He's the heart and soul of the show (even if he's having an off year).

1:1No one dies. And it's just possible that Matt Weiner cooked up with open door without the elevator a few episodes ago just to create some dramatic tension and get people like me to write about it.